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Into the Hork Swamp
As the mansion of Edovan Gontain burns to the ground, Pavlin Ilvistar arrives on the scene. Unhappy, because he, the captain of Faldrin's guard was not sent for this task, he gruffly demands the team follow him to see Faldrin. The team tries to convince Ilvistar that there is no time, but the captain will not relent. Upon returning to Faldrin's estate, the team is met with a recovering Faldrin and a grateful Yistal. They recognize both Jek and Nova as magic users but kick the guard out before asking them if they are part of the Sundered Spear, Zabroi's Light, or The Tallov. Jek and Nova are more confused than anything else, unsure how to answer. Thrown off by their confusion Faldrin asks them if they are with the Guild of Fools. Again the team's confusion leaves Faldrin bewildered. Faldrin talks about the poor state of the world before writing out a note to the treasury granting the team 5,000 gold for their deeds in rescuing Gontain. When they go to redeem the note, Pavlin Ilvistar is extremely unhappy about it. The team rests at the local tavern/inn called "The Looky Cask". The owner, a stout dwarven woman, embraces the hatred she gets for being non-human and still manages to run one of the more successful taverns in town due to her strong liquor and the presence of many soldiers. After a night's rest the team ventures eastward on horseback. As the team leaves the city walls, Nova notes that it appears as if the architecture changes low to the ground, almost as if the city wall were built on top of something else. The journey took nearly two weeks on horseback to arrive on the edge of the Hork swamp. There they presented a letter granting them stay at the outpost. The team left their horses and rested the night before heading into the swamp. The team ventured into the swamp. The small path was overgrown and hard to follow but eventually, it opened into a freshly cut path. The team followed the new path and finally came to a long abandoned outpost no more than a mile off of the coast. Upon entering the outpost, a ghost stood pleading with nothing, in particular, to bury the bones and put the lost to rest. Several pieces of rock and metal moved on their own scratching words about eternal suffering into all surfaces of the room. The team ventured in and encountered many vengeful spirits. Haunts tormented them as they found their way up. On an outlook on the second floor, a gargoyle attacked, but during the battle, Alora spotted lights from a fire flashing in the distance. The team then ventured down into the basement. More haunts assailed the team, but eventually they found a small flooded cellar. There shadows attacked, and when they were slain 24 adult human skeletons and 1 halfling, gnome or child's skeleton was found. The team removed the bones and gave the skeletons a proper burial. Upon doing so the ghost thanked the team crying. As it went to embrace them, it congealed into a single clear crystal that fell to the ground. The team still not having found Shael Gontain, took another sweep of the fortress. They located some dusty footsteps that went behind a fake wall. There they faced a man who immediately began to swirl with dark energy as his features became bestial. He claimed he had known that Umbraya would betray the Bloody Star, and attacked. The team prevailed rescuing the bound Shael Gontain.